Explore Book Sellers in Aspen, one of the great independent book stores in the region is now selling Colors and Shira’s Wish by Jay Magidson. There was a demand to buy the book locally and one couldn’t wish for a better venue.

Aspen has long been know for its love of intellectual pursuits, being the home of The Aspen Institute and the Aspen Writer’s Foundation. Famous and influential writers often come here to speak or participate. The Explore Booksellers is the central venue for book signings and writer appearances on the Western Slope of Colorado. Colors and Shira’s Wish are in good hands.

Thank you for supporting our local bookstore.

A little history of the Explore Booksellers

The Billionaire and the Bookstore

The Wall Street JournalOctober 5, 2007

ASPEN, Colo. — For more than 30 years, Explore Booksellers was a quiet refuge from Aspen’s burgeoning wealth and development.

The bookstore and cafe, located in a Victorian house off Main Street, remained locally owned even as other shops were replaced by chain stores or luxury retailers. Explore’s outspoken owner, Katherine Thalberg railed against the McMansions going up all over the resort town and the loss of “old Aspen,” with its bohemian artists, beat-up Jeeps and counterculture heroes like writer Hunter S. Thompson.

Customers could curl up with a book on the Oriental rugs, chat with the staff about Expressionist poets or eat at the upstairs bistro, which features vegetarian fare such soy burgers, carrot juice and vegan chocolate fudge cake.

The shop also was Ms. Thalberg’s political base, where she organized crusades against fur coats, George W. Bush and the Iraq war. She helped raise money for Ralph Nader and campaigned for John Kerry during the 2004 election. And she picked out all the shop’s books, an assortment heavy on animal-rights titles.

So it came as something of a shock to Aspen when Ms. Thalberg died last year and Explore Booksellers was sold. Even more surprising was the buyer: Sam Wyly — the Texas billionaire who was a top supporter of George W. Bush and helped fund the “swift boat” ads that helped defeat Mr. Kerry.

“You can’t have Sam Wyly’s history and claim to want to continue Katherine’s legacy at Explore,” says Phyllis Bronson, a biochemist in Aspen who was one of Ms. Thalberg’s closest friends. “The history of Explore is politically rich. Her politics and the store were closely intertwined.”